Manchester United will make an attempt to sign Frenkie de Jong within the next seven days, according to reports.
The Red Devils are purportedly hoping to tie the 25-year-old down to a deal before they face Liverpool at Old Trafford on August 20. De Jong is still United's top priority transfer target, following the arrivals of Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia earlier in the window.
Erik ten Hag has been chasing the Barcelona star since he became the club's new manager back in May, but a deal still has not been reached. The Red Devils had reportedly agreed a fee with the Catalan giants for De Jong, but the move was turned down by the player, with the Netherlands international still owed unpaid wages and reluctant to move to Manchester.
United are finally trying to end one of the most talked about transfer sagas of all-time with attempting to sign De Jong within the next week, according to De Telegraaf, per utdreport. This could prove to be hard to do, however, after Barca president Joan Laporta revealed De Jong wants to stay at the club beyond the end of the window.
Speaking on Sunday night, Laporta is quoted by Mundo Deportivo as saying: "[De Jong] is a Barca player, of great quality and we want him to stay. With him and his teammates, we have a very powerful midfield. He has offers but we want him to stay and he wants to stay."
Pivotal to the confusion is De Jong's salary and Barcelona's adamance that he must take a pay cut if he wishes to remain at the club, such is the state of their finances. De Jong has already deferred £17million in unpaid wages and will not leave Barcelona without those being paid up in full.
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All the while, United have remained patient in the proceedings, keeping faith that a deal would eventually be completed once the situation had been resolved in-house at Barcelona. But that has given Chelsea a chance to muscle their way into the equation, leaving United incensed by how they're now being portrayed as a 'dysfunctional club', as reports the Manchester Evening News.
De Jong's close relationship with Ten Hag is also key to their persistence, but they are still overlooking the fact that the player is reluctant to jump ship to United, who cannot offer him Champions League football. That is where Chelsea could come in and capitalise, as they are willing to pay De Jong's deferred wages to settle the dispute with Barcelona and also provide the lure of Europe's top club competition.
A move to London is also something which appeals to De Jong more so than residing in Manchester, though his preference would still be to remain a Barcelona player.
